The present invention relates to a surgical scalpel and in particular to a periodontal scalpel, although not specifically limited thereto, wherein the blade is universally adjustable.
Scalpels presently used for general and dental surgery, particularly periodontal surgery are very small in size and of the type generally fixed in construction in that the cutting blade, when mounted in the chucked end of the scalpel, is fixed in position. Hence, although the cutting blade may be removed from the chuck to be replaced by blades of different shapes and sizes to enable the periodontist to manipulate the blade into smaller confined spaces, once the blade is chucked to the handle it is not movable with respect to the handle. As a consequence, during the performance of surgery, it is necessary for the surgeon to have a large number of handles already mounted with cutting blades each of different sizes, shapes and angular positions so that he may draw upon and select any one of those that he needs at any given time.
Since this is a severe drawback and limitation upon the maneuverability of the surgeon, it is helpful to have a single scalpel that he may manipulate in a single hand and which may have the capability of permitting the blade to be pivoted at any universal angle so desired at the moment required by the surgeon and locked in the angle of positioning and to permit the blade to be removed and substituted for by another blade.
Attempts have been made to provide scalpels with adjustably positionable blades. For example, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,609,864 and 4,275,735.In the latter U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,735, a hollow handle is provided, having at its distal end a plurality of slots into a selected one of which a given blade is placed. Within the handle is mounted a retractable shank, at the anterior end of which is a ring which overlies the blade and which is adapted to secure the blade in a given slot. This device does not provide for the ability of the blade to be adjusted or enable its adjustment after insertion in the slot, nor does it provide the surgeon with the degree of maneuverability and adaptability as is desirable at any given moment during the operative procedure.
In the earlier patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,864 a scalpel is shown in which the blade is held on a plate-like blade holder which is provided with a spherical anchoring end held within a socket formed in the distal end of a handle and held therein by an internal clamping rod. The socket is provided with a narrow slot through which the plate holder passes and in which it is movable in the single plane of the plate. The blade thus has limited movement at the anterior end of the handle in a single plane. Rotation of the blade about the longitudinal axis of the blade is not possible, nor is universal positioning of the blade holder.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a scalpel which enables universal positioning of the cutting edge of the blade relative to the axis of the handle, in situ, i.e., while the blade is mounted on the handle and at any desired moment during the surgery.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a scalpel in which the blade is easily and simply mounted at the end of a handle so as to be universally adjustable in situ and still have all of the strength and rigidity necessary to sucessfully carry out surgery.
It is, of course, an object of the present invention to provide a scalpel which is easily disassembled for sterilization and thereafter reassembled, which can employ conventional disposable and/or reusable blades.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a scalpel having a novel chuck mechanism for universally positioning the blade, it being a more specific object to provide the chuck mechanism so that it is operable by simple manipulation of the handle by the user during actual use of the scalpel.
These objects as well as others will be apparent from the following disclosure.